This striking, segmented folding map of the world was published by Julius Maier in Stuttgart c.1870. It was printed in a distinctive ochre colour, a very unusual feature for the time and its design is credited to C.R. Baur another noted German publisher, particular renowned for his thematic maps.



Geographically, the map is accurate for the period, particularly in the Canadian Arctic, so often an area of geographical advances in the 19th century. The map details the work of early explorers such as Franklin, Parry and Ross but also adds later discoveries by Elisha Kane, Dr John Rae and Francis Leopold McClintock. Information on the South Pole is far sparser, with information available from the exploration of Charles Wilkes, Dumont D'Urville, John Biscoe and James Clarke Ross, with much of the empty region further south being conveniently hidden by multiple insets on the southern border of the map. All of the above discoveries in the south were made in the 1830s and 1840s.



However, judging by the insets and the emphasis of the map, geographical updates are possibly not its primary focus. Two small vignettes on the cartouche show a rail engine and a fast schooner, suggesting that trade, commerce and logistics are more important to Maier. This impression is strengthened by the multitude of commercial shipping routes present in the seas, the marking of the international Transatlantic Telegraph Line between Great Britain and Newfoundland and with a possible connection to New York. This was first laid in 1858 but quickly ceased to function. The present example is most likely a reference to the second laying of the cable in 1866.



Multiple insets are present on the lower border of the map, all of them either of major ports or regions which have been historically important to commerce, such as the Spice Islands on the lower left; other insets include the two proposals for the siting of the eventual Panama Canal; the Suez Canal which revolutionised travel to the Far East; Cape Colony, Honolulu in Hawaii with its fine, deep harbour, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.



Aesthetically, the map is very striking with its distinctive colour. Icebound regions of the world are charmingly illustrated with depictions of ice. Geo-political borders are marked albeit in a faint manner but the emphasis on topography via engraving is strong.



We have had the opportunity to examine a variation of this map. Geographically and aesthetically, it is broadly the same with some small regional variations; however, the insets on the lower border differ quite dramatically, with a far greater emphasis on scientific geography. This suggests that there were different versions of this map, each with a different focus. The other major difference is the addition of another cartographer and publisher on the title, Traugott Brommer an adventurous German immigrant in the United States who returned to Germany in the late 1840s and died in 1865. This name has been removed from our example, suggesting that it was published after this date.

SL [WLD4026]